Avalon Renninger is one of four CHS seniors who played their final basketball game Tuesday night. (Photos by JohnsPhotos.net)
Scott Fox (left) led the Wolf girls to a 12-7 record in his first year at the helm.
Maddie Georges, who was the #3 scorer for Coupeville as a freshman, is one of 10 varsity players who can return next season.
The rain (of three-balls) was a pain.
A scrappy Coupeville High School girls basketball squad played visiting Meridian even in the second and fourth quarters Tuesday night.
But it was the first and third quarters, when the Trojans bombed away for six of their nine successful three-point shots, that stung, and stung badly.
Dropping death from the skies, the very-young, very-quick, very-physical, very-good team from Bellingham was ultimately too much for the Wolves, handing them a 52-24 loss.
The defeat, Coupeville’s second in as many days to a Northwest Conference school, eliminates them from the district playoffs.
The Wolves finish 12-7.
Coupeville and next-door neighbor South Whidbey were eliminated on the same night, as the Falcon girls fell 53-17 at Mount Baker.
With the CHS boys having been KO’d Saturday, and neither Oak Harbor hoops team making the playoffs, the South Whidbey boys are the last team from The Rock still playing.
While Tuesday’s final score sounds lopsided, it was a huge improvement from Coupeville’s loss Monday at Nooksack Valley.
The Wolves, led by four seniors playing in their final game in a CHS uniform, were within 11 points early in the third quarter, and never backed down against a really-strong Meridian squad.
In the early going, Coupeville struggled to convert from the field, largely thanks to in-your-face and then some defense from the ultra-aggressive Trojans.
The Wolves only first quarter points came at the free throw line, while Meridian dropped in a trio of three-balls en route to opening up a 17-5 lead by the first break.
Things didn’t get much better as the second quarter dawned, with the Trojans swishing their fourth and fifth treys to shove the margin out to 23-5, but then Coupeville found its groove.
Scout Smith netted her team’s first field goal, some 10 minutes-plus into the game, when she ripped a ball loose, then beat a pack of rivals down the court.
It was the start of a 10-4 run for Coupeville, with Smith, Anya Leavell, Carolyn Lhamon, and Maddie Georges all scoring.
The prettiest play came thanks to Smith and Leavell, as the wily senior led a fast-break, then slid a pass between defenders to her sophomore teammate for a breakaway layup.
The grittiest play was right before the break, as Georges, a freshman who is primed to inherit the point guard position from the departing Smith, went the length of the court for a bucket while being hammered around the head and shoulders.
Hannah Davidson opened the third quarter, sliding a free throw through the twines to pull the Wolves within 27-16, but then things fell apart for a good stretch.
It wasn’t that Coupeville played badly in the third.
You have to give credit to Meridian, which did what top-level teams do. They stepped up and dropped a haymaker.
Or a couple.
Closing the quarter with a 17-0 game-busting surge, fueled by three more three-balls, the Trojans put a stamp on the game, simply overpowering their opponents.
The Wolves fought to the end, however, playing Meridian to an 8-8 tie across the fourth quarter, with four different players notching a point.
The biggest cheer of the night came very late in the game, when senior Tia Wurzrainer, celebrating her birthday, pulled up on the move and hit nothing but net on the final jump shot of her stellar prep hoops career.
While the loss ended Coupeville’s season, first-year head coach Scott Fox had nothing but positives to carry away as he and his players exited.
“We fought really hard, and played so much better than last night,” he said.
“Our seniors played their hearts out. They were our backbone and our leaders,” Fox added. “I couldn’t be more proud of those girls.”
Smith, Wurzrainer, Davidson, and Avalon Renninger played together from middle school through their senior seasons, with Davidson making a brief detour to California before returning to Cow Town.
A tight-knit bunch, they will be remembered most for their hearts and hustle, which were second to none.
Playing in her final basketball game, Smith led the Wolves with seven points, and notched one final personal highlight.
With her performance Tuesday, Scooter finishes with 290 varsity points, sliding past Bessie Walstad (288) to claim 37th on the Wolf girls basketball career scoring chart, which dates back to 1974.
Davidson banged home five points in support, with Georges (4), Leavell (2), Chelsea Prescott (2), Wurzrainer (2), Lhamon (1), and Audrianna Shaw (1) also scoring.
Prescott finishes her junior season with 249 career points, tying her with Danette Beckley at #44 on the all-time list.
Renninger, Mollie Bailey, Kylie Van Velkinburgh, and Izzy Wells also saw floor time, while Nezi Keiper, recovering from an injury, and team managers McKenna Somes and Ja’Kenya Hoskins round out the 2019-2020 Wolf varsity.
Final (unofficial) season scoring stats:
Scout Smith – 148
Chelsea Prescott – 110
Maddie Georges – 86
Hannah Davidson – 74
Avalon Renninger – 64
Izzy Wells – 46
Tia Wurzrainer – 25
Carolyn Lhamon – 24
Anya Leavell – 18
Audrianna Shaw – 11
Kylie Van Velkinburgh – 10
Mollie Bailey – 6
Nezi Keiper – 2
To see more photos from Monday’s playoff game in Nooksack Valley, pop over to:
https://www.johnsphotos.net/Sports/Coupeville-Basketball-2019-2020/GBB-2020-02-10-at-Nooksack/
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